Bad news at 10 p.m. for KTVU

TIM GOODMAN

Published 4:00 am, Friday, March 27, 1998

1998-03-27 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA -- THERE'S SOMETHING to be said about curiosity and where it takes us.

It's unscientific, early and probably meaningless, but the numbers for the normally unstoppable "Ten O'Clock News" on KTVU Channel 2 were slightly troubling the first two days of Elaine Corral's absence.

And if that's the case, Corral must be feeling pretty good about now.

Corral was the solo anchor last Monday and Tuesday, the days preceding her shocking announcement and departure. That Monday, she had an 8.7 rating with an 18 share (of the available audience). In the news business, those are good numbers. On Tuesday she had an even better 8.9 rating and a 19 share.

Fast forward one week to the debut of former weekend anchor Leslie Griffith, who joined Dennis Richmond as a permanent member of "The 10 O'Clock News." On Monday - Oscar night - the duo had an 8.1 rating with a 16 share. Solid. But on the next night - with an admittedly poor lead-in show called "Why Planes Go Down" - Griffith / Richmond had a 7.3 rating and 15 share, well off the mark for that newscast.

Most disturbing, however, is the viewing pattern. On Tuesday (March 24), when the news started at 10 p.m. and for the first 15 minutes, they had a 10.3 rating and 19 share. Impressive. At 10:15 p.m. that number dipped to a 7.5 and a 15 share. At the 10:30 p.m. mark, the newscast had dropped almost half of its rating points, down to a 5.5 with a 12 share. Before the night ended, at 10:45 p.m., they mustered a small comeback to a 5.9 rating and 14 share. (For comparison, last Tuesday (March 17), when Corral was soloing, the viewing pattern went 10.6 / 20, 9.3 / 19, 8.4 / 19 and 7.3 / 17).

So, according to the numbers, the beginning of the Griffith era was not good. Wednesday was even worse, when the newscast totaled a 5.9 rating and 12 share.

Kevin O'Brien, general manager of KTVU, wasn't bothered in the slightest (at least outwardly). And he has good reason to remain confident. No newscast has been able to consistently battle KTVU. He once called it a Sherman tank - and that's not far off from the truth. You'd have to think that KTVU will rally again at 10 p.m. and Griffith, a popular anchor on the weekends, will be embraced by the audience.

But don't kid yourselves. There's worry all around over there. If viewers are sampling the new line-up and then tuning out, there's a problem. Perhaps they believe that Corral was wronged somehow and are making a statement of displeasure.

Again, it's very early.

Corral's departure has put some fluidity in the normally rock-solid alignment at KTVU. The station has the least amount of turnover of any of the four local outlets. But with Griffith moving up, KTVU had to replace her on Saturday and Sunday. The interim choice was Julie Haener, who has been at the station a mere three months.

O'Brien called the decision to install Haener in the job

"the easiest and least disruptive move we can make. That's no guarantee or indication" Haener will be the choice. "We have five good candidates," O'Brien said.

"We are a family here and we want to make sure we give everyone the proper amount of attention and time."

Although O'Brien wouldn't name the other four candidates, a source close to the selection process said they were morning (6 a.m.) anchor Diane Dwyer and reporters Faith Fancher, Greg Liggins and John Sasaki.

Dwyer would appear to be the front-runner, given her rising-star status at the station and her current anchoring job, but protecting the morning franchise is paramount at KTVU and the station may see moving her as something that would create instability.

KTVU may be grabbing all the headlines lately, but the other stations are also going through changes, not all of them good. It's safe to say that KPIX has almost fallen off the map in the morning, despite the Kate Kelly Experiment.

The nadir may have come on March 19, when KPIX had a 0.9 rating and a 6 share, which looks pretty ugly up against the 3.9 and 23 share posted that day by morning powerhouse KRON. While KGO and KTVU flip-flop positions - with the occasional pulse exhibited by KPIX - nobody is touching KRON's "Daybreak," which has successfully weathered the departure of anchor Susan Blake, who left March 6 and was replaced by Beth Ruyak.

KPIX's failure, even with the extremely talented and likeable Kelly in the early a.m., seems to mirror its performance at every other slot: bad. It may take a while for the new chiefs at KPIX to figure this out, but the Bay Area doesn't like gimmicks and that's what KPIX is all about. They'd probably light the set on fire every night if they could get away with it.

How do you fix something so out of whack? Not easy. First step: Hire Corral. She could bring an influx of new viewers, particularly at 10 p.m. If the station wants to keep some kind of gimmick, pair her with Dana King. Two women at 10. Why not? Move Uncle Dave McElhatton to a more appropriate position, as a special feature reporter, where he'd shine.

It's a start at least. In the meantime, can somebody explain the concept of Bill. As in Bill Schechner, who has developed into a wonderful storyteller for the station. No problem there. But the segment is called Bill. As in,

"Next on Bill." Can we stop that? KPIX has a sorry legacy of calling its reporters and anchors by first or pet names. Could no one come up with a better title for these end-of-the-newscast stories? And another thing: Give the man more time.

At KRON Channel 4, the station is branching out in mysterious ways. If you tuned in recently at 6 p.m., only to find Suzanne Shaw anchoring from San Jose, welcome to the new world order. Dan Rosenheim, news director at KRON, said it was good for viewers to see an anchor "outside of San Francisco" and that Shaw will be anchoring once a week from San Jose "for now." If he likes it, look for more of her. Rosenheim says KRON has invested heavily in the South Bay bureau and since a lot of news is coming out of Silicon Valley, it makes sense.

It also gives a broader scope to the station. "Our newscast is of, from and for the entire region," Rosenheim said.

Fine. But KRON is unsure how to pair road-tripping Shaw with longtime co-anchor Pete Wilson back in the San Francisco home office. They tried having her stand - which looked awkward. Rosenheim said they haven't settled on the look just yet.

This trend toward standing - the national anchors have tried it, too - is completely unnecessary. Sit down and read the news. Period.

And what's to become of KGO Channel 7? While it's easy to beat up on the insane hijinks of KPIX, the Channel 7 people are an island of issues unto themselves. If it's not odd departures or simmering lawsuits, it's cult-status haircuts and blimps. For a station that has so many good field reporters, the high-gloss sheen at the anchor desk distracts all the attention. Well, that and the other weird things.

The local news - staid and predictable most of the time - has become this odd, rumbling volcano of late. It's more interesting - if not better - viewing than what we're getting from the networks during midseason mania.